Humanism, Secularism, Feminism

Taslima Nasreen

Taslima Nasreen, an award-winning writer, physician, secular humanist and human rights activist, is known for her powerful writings on women oppression and unflinching criticism of religion, despite forced exile and multiple fatwas calling for her death. In India, Bangladesh and abroad, Nasreen’s fiction, nonfiction, poetry and memoir have topped the best-seller’s list.

Taslima Nasreen was born in Bangladesh. She started writing when she was 13. Her writings won the hearts of people across the border and she landed with the prestigious literary award Ananda from India in 1992. Taslima won The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought from the European Parliament in 1994. She received the Kurt Tucholsky Award from Swedish PEN, the Simone de Beauvoir Award and Human Rights Award from Government of France, Le Prix de l' Edit de Nantes from the city of Nantes, France, Academy prize from the Royal Academy of arts, science and literature from Belgium. She is a Humanist Laureate in The International Academy for Humanism,USA. She won Distinguished Humanist Award from International Humanist and Ethical Union, Free-thought Heroine award from Freedom From Religion foundation, USA., IBKA award, Germany,and Feminist Press Award, USA . She got the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh prize for Promotion of the Tolerance and Non-violence in 2005. She received the Medal of honor of Lyon. She got honorary citizenship from Paris, Nantes, Lyon, Metz, Thionville, Esch etc. Taslima was awarded the Condorcet-Aron Prize at the “Parliament of the French Community of Belgium” in Brussels and Ananda literary award again in 2000.

Bestowed with honorary doctorates from Gent University and UCL in Belgium, and American University of Paris and Paris Diderot University in France, she has addressed gatherings in major venues of the world like the European Parliament, National Assembly of France, Universities of Sorbonne, Oxford, Harvard, Yale, etc. She got fellowships as a research scholar at Harvard and New York Universities. She was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in the USA in 2009.

Taslima has written 35 books in Bengali, which includes poetry, essays, novels and autobiography series. Her works have been translated in thirty different languages. Some of her books are banned in Bangladesh. Because of her thoughts and ideas she has been banned, blacklisted and banished from Bengal, both from Bangladesh and West Bengal part of India. She has been prevented by the authorities from returning to her country since 1994, and to West Bengal since 2007.

Silly Hats!

Comments

I remember the first time I saw priests dressed like that. It was in National Geographic before I was able to read. Confused the crap out of me. I’d never actually seen a Klansman and they weren’t really active anymore by the mid 70’s in my area, but I knew what they looked like. The pictures in the magazine were quite confusing.

I was also highly confused when I saw the KKK style costume on other people. I was in Spain during “Holy Week”, and saw the guys dressed up like this carring the statues around in the parades. Supposedly the costume symbolizes the act of penance (at least per wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan_regalia_and_insignia). The wiki article has that the orgins of the costumes are different but I have a hard time buying that. But , knowing that the KKK twits are anti-catholic, maybe they were just that stupid.

The pointy hat, “capirote” was worn by Flagellants who loved a bit of self abuse. I understand that it was adopted by the KKK because of the concealment it offered and the unsettling aspect of its appearance.

Semana Santa is almost upon us and you can witness these idiots parading the streets especially in Seville.

Where I come from, a person who had actual pride is someone who shows their face, who isn’t afraid of anyone knowing who one is or has done. A person who feels the need to hide the face is someone afraid of consequences, who is knowingly engaged in something unethical.

Where I come from, a person only covers the face in public for personal safety (e.g. a motorcycle helmet, a balaclava in -20C temperatures). Covering the face when committing violence is the act of a criminal who doesn’t want to be caught, not someone who feels “pride”.